


A Quiet Evening

by Origami_Roses



Series: Anur's Anecdotes [3]
Category: Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Kir is being subtle, Practical Jokes, Revenge is Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 14:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15843258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Origami_Roses/pseuds/Origami_Roses
Summary: Just a quiet winter's evening with nothing particular to do.





	A Quiet Evening

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MueraRashaye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MueraRashaye/gifts).



> A bit of silliness. Set after Talia is ordained to seal an alliance with Valdemar, but before the boys actually head north _to_ Valdemar.

Things were quiet on their journey back North to the 62nd. Aelius and Riva were drowsing in the lean-to shelter attached to the traveler's chapel where they were staying the night, fed and blanketed against the cold. Snow was softly falling outside, unseasonable, but not extremely so, and not a howling blizzard. Kir had just finished cleaning the chapel after an abbreviated SunDescending service and extinguished the candle-lamps, leaving only the Eternal Flame twinkling behind the altar, reflecting from the window and casting soft shadows around the room. He'd put that out when they left in the morning after SunRising. There were no known emergencies to respond to; the rare moment of true peace was appreciated.

Anur was already in the sacristy, mugs of water ready to be heated and a selection of tea to choose from, whittling as he waited. Kir smiled fondly at his Shield-Brother. He had a feeling he knew whose mid-winter gift the elaborate wooden chain was going to be - Anira had just turned 5, and was therefore now old enough to be "fun" in Anur's estimation. Her little sister... not so much. Fortunately, little Dena was still much too young for snowball fights like the one that had broken out when they stopped in Aulch earlier that day to deliver letters and visit the Greves. It had been hilarious, watching Anur try to live up to his reputation of being terrified of small children while laughing and romping with Anira and her friends - not all of whom were quite "old enough" and from whom he therefore fled in mock-terror. The littlest ones had eventually "cornered" Anur by herding him into an ambush. Anur had responded by shaking the branches of a nearby tree and making the accumulated snow fall on all the kids. Kir was pretty sure Anur had made sure to get caught right where he did so he could "accidentally" get Kir as well. Up to that point, Kir had been content to watch their antics from the sidelines, talking with Synia and anyone else who cared to join the conversation. Even now, it was novel to be treated like a normal person; Synia placing Dena in his arms with a smile was still a wonder to him, and he enjoyed it tremendously. He hoped it never got old. Having snow dumped down his back was already old... 

A wicked little thought occurred to him as he added a sachet of mint to his mug and heated the water for them both. A lovely, fitting little revenge. Something more subtle than setting Anur's hair afire. Sitting down in a hearth-side chair and picking up a half-finished Sun-in-Glory, he began to work. The blue silk cord shot through with silver threads was truly lovely. Perhaps he'd send it North as a gift to Herald-Sunpriest Talia. He'd had little time to meet her during the couple days she'd been in Sunhame this past midsummer, ordained as a Priest with Vkandis' clear favor. It had been a wonder to witness, even if dealing with the Generals and some of the other Priests afterward had been unpleasant. Kir glanced at Anur from the corner of his eye; the Herald was just about to take a sip of his tea. Hiding a smile, Kir quickly pulled all the heat out of it, surprising his friend mid-swallow, then subtly reheating the tea as Anur set the mug aside, confusion coloring his mind. 

"Kir…? I thought you heated the..." Anur stopped as he noticed the barely visible steam rising from his mug. Anur looked dubious as he lifted it for another sip. Kir immediately heated it to just hot enough to be uncomfortable while ostensibly fixing a knot. Anur squeaked a bit in surprise and glared accusingly at Kir, who smiled innocently back and asked "is that better?" before pulling all the heat back out and leaving the tea stone cold again.

**Author's Note:**

> This little story wasn't really inspired by a specific chapter from FAB. I woke up in the middle of the night vaguely remembering a series I read years ago. One of the books was called Convergence, I think. One particular scene was stuck in my mind - one of the main characters could control fire, and kept a particularly pompous twit distracted and uncomfortable by keeping his tea just barely too hot to drink. I could see Kir doing much the same. Somehow, that turned into this. I don't know whether Kir could actually freeze something - though that _would_ be an interesting path to explore - but we do know from [the end of this chapter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109495/chapters/2235332#workskin) that Kir can cool things that are already heated.


End file.
